Book Revisited: Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

Flowers in the Attic
Dollanganger #1
Author: V. C. Andrews
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Gothic / Family Saga / Classics / Horror
Released: January 7th 2014 (Pocket Books Edition)
Review Source: Pocket Books

A major Lifetime movie event—the novel that captured the world's imagination and earned V.C. Andrews a fiercely devoted fanbase. Book One of the Dollanganger Family series.

At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent, and struggling to stay alive…

They were a perfect family, golden and carefree—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. Kept on the top floor of their grandmother’s vast mansion, their loving mother assures them it will be just for a little while. But as brutal days swell into agonizing months and years, Cathy, Chris, and twins Cory and Carrie realize their survival is at the mercy of their cruel and superstitious grandmother…and this cramped and helpless world may be the only one they ever know.

Book One of the Dollanganger series, followed by Petals in the Wind, If There be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows.

If there is one book I remember from my youth that I read, it would be Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews. What I don't remember is exactly how old I was when I did. The book was originally published in 1979 which would put me at 2 years old when its first got published, so I know I didn't read it then. So I want to say it was late 80's when I did and let me tell you that that book creeped me out but at the same time I couldn't put it down. Which led me to read more novels written by Andrews. V. C. Andrews is definitely an iconic author that will always get talked about for decades.

So when I saw the new redesigned book cover being released and heard the news of the lifetime movie channel adaptation, I was tickled pink. Then when I was offered the chance to get a copy of Flowers in the Attic, I didn't hesitate to say yes. The copy that arrived didn't have the cover that originally I had seen posted online as the redesign which was good because that other cover was misleading. It look like it belong to a contemporary romance novel as opposed to a Gothic horror novel. The copy I have is the mass paperback size very small and compact that I used up top for the review. Easy to carry and put inside a purse. The cover background's is in black and white with a girl giving us her back with very bright red roses surrounding the girl. So a much better improvement to the original cover from 1979 that showed a simple design of the top of a house and a girl's face looking out the one window in the attic of the house. Now to me that cover is ugly now but back then it was super creepy to my young mind. Many other redesigns have been published since the first 1979 cover but I think the latest is definitely the best.

On to the story that left its mark so many years ago. Its crazy to think I read this book when I was around my son's age now. Would I let him read it now? No. It's definitely not meant for children to read even with its outdated language. Reading it now was an experience I won't soon forget. I kept thinking to myself "How did I read this when I was a kid and survived without needing therapy?" Flowers in the Attic still impacts you and makes you cringe.

The story follows four siblings who father died unexpectedly in a car accident and left the mother only one option and that was to ask her estranged mother to take her back. The catch is she can move back to the glorious mansion and elaborate lifestyle but the four children have to stay locked up in the attic where their grandfather can't know they exist. Their mother needs to win their grandfather's love again to be put back in the will after being taken off for marrying her half-uncle (the children's father). So what was suppose to be just one day of hiding turned into a few years of hiding even though at a point in time the children could have have escaped on their own. Their mother even remarries and hardly visited the kids anymore while they are mistreated, starved and beat by their grandmother. And when the two older siblings that have been acting as the twins parental units start to grow up and mature stuck in that attic, the control they have starts to crack and the rules the evil grandmother implemented begin to get broken.

Once you get to know Cathy, Chris, Cory and Carrie, you will forever be impacted by the lives they live in that attic with the flowers. You will get mad and angry and feel the worst heartache for them. This is not your happy ever after fairytale.

If you have never read this story I suggest that you do before the Lifetime channel world premiere Saturday, January 18th at 8/7c.